If there are questions right now about LeBron James' fit with the Los Angeles Lakers , some of those may have already been answered. The King slid into the scheme of things seamlessly, which shouldn't be a surprise at all, if you ask Luka Doncic .
"I wouldn't say any toughest," Doncic said in a Snoop Dogg interview on "Access Hollywood," answering a question about what's the hardest thing about playing with LBJ. "He just wants to be great, man. Just having to talk about his 23rd season, I said I might not be able to walk no more in 23rd season and he's still doing it at the best of the best. It's insane."
As Doncic mentioned, playing with someone as great as LBJ should pose no problems. The guy's wealth of knowledge, collected in 23 years of being in the league, is enough to guide an entire locker room on what winning actually demands.
LeBron missed 14 straight games to start the season due to a sciatica issue, the first time in his career he had been sidelined that long to begin the basketball year. Some analysts predicted the team's chemistry might suffer with another mouth to feed, but so far, that has not been the case.
James said the right things before his return and has done the right things as soon as he was back in action. Sure, he still had to play his way into tip-top shape, but the early signs were encouraging. The team defense needed some fine-tuning, but the offensive chemistry snapped into place right away.
For instance, in his return against the Utah Jazz on November 18, the four-time NBA MVP dropped six straight dimes at one point to help the Purple and Gold secure the win, 140-126. He finished with 12 in just his first game back.
"Some of these passes, I didn't even know he seen me cut," Deandre Ayton said . "Just being at the right place, at the right time, he's finding me right away with sharp passes and like I said, he's making my life easy. I told Bron, I said 'Those are easy buckets right there, and I just got in the game.'"
The Lakers' offense was already humming without him, but adding an all-time talent in the lineup has its perks. L.A. is ranked sixth in offensive rating (118.1) this season, but over the last four games, coinciding with James' return, it was clicking on all cylinders at No. 2 behind the Oklahoma City Thunder .
During that stretch, the team is first in true shooting percentage (66.4 percent), first in field goal percentage (55 percent), and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (38.8 percent).
This winning version of the Lakers is characterized by good individual and team play. Luka Magic leads the league in points per game, while Austin Reaves is having an All-Star season himself: 28.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists over 15 contests.
However, having LeBron out there as the "3rd wheel" feels impossible to guard. For him, playing alongside the highest-scoring backcourt in the NBA is such a luxury. He could pick his spots and attack when needed. He could conserve his energy, and he won't have to run on empty trying to set the table for everyone.
On the other hand, James' presence means teams can no longer blitz Luka at every turn. They will always win the numbers game on the backside in these scenarios. The Dallas Mavericks tried that and got burned more often than not.
If this is LBJ trying to get his legs underneath him, it's not hard to imagine how the Lakers will look once he hits full rhythm. As Luka told Snoop Dogg, chemistry is the last thing to worry about when playing with The King.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
